Jewellery has always been a fascinating subject for women across all walks of life.

The most dazzling of all is the Bridal Jewellery. So, we have something special to share with the to-be brides in our audience.

*Drum Roll*

It’s the New Bridal Collection ‘Ardor‘ from Nemichand Bamalwa Jewellers.

Quoting one of the directors of the jewellery brand:

“The Ardor collection is Nemichand’s high jewellery collection for the 2022 bridal season. It features our in-house exclusive designs made over months by our best karigars and using intricate Minakari, Jadau and world-standard finishing.

It symbolises our penchant for high-quality natural diamonds, Zambian and Columbian Emeralds, fine Tourmalines and South Sea Pearls.”

There’s more!

I caught up with Ravi Bamalwa, Director of Nemichand Jewellers, to learn more about this bright new wedding collection that celebrates love and rituals.

 

The new bridal collection ‘Ardor’ is stunning. Congratulations! How do you feel now that it’s launched?

Ardor is the beginning of an exciting new chapter of our Salt Lake City Centre Showroom. So far, the response from our clients has really been overwhelming. It has been very heartening to see more of our clients embracing high-quality coloured stones such as emeralds and Burmese rubies. 

It has been a very creative journey where we thoroughly enjoyed playing with exquisite and rare gemstones and our favourite metal—Gold!

The end result was extremely delightful. 

What is the story/theme of Ardor?

The theme of the Ardor collection is to bring out the “Maharani” in the bride on her big day.

The jewellery designs have been very carefully curated so that each piece is in sync with present-day attire preferences. Our effort, through the Ardor collection, is to make the clients realise that a true heirloom piece is one which is versatile in usage and has fine quality material, be it diamonds or precious coloured stones.

Even 50 years from now, the jewels should be highly coveted, not only due to the designs but also due to the irreplaceable material and jewellery engineering which have gone into crafting these jewels. A case in point is the jewels of the Indian Maharajas and Nizams.

Through the Ardor collection, we want to break the myth that such jewels are astronomical in price. When you see our collection, you’ll notice that we have found that sweet spot of quality and affordability so that Nizam-worthy jewels may be more accessible to a larger part of society.

When and how did your relationship with jewellery start?

The real inspiration to join the family business was the revolution that our elders sparked by pioneering 22/22k gold jewellery in India. This changed the entire landscape of the jewellery industry in India. It compelled other jewellers to reconsider their earlier practice of selling 22k gold jewellery with a much lower melting purity (usually 18k-20k). This achievement hugely inspired me to join the family business and thus started my relationship with jewellery.

Can you take us through your creative process?

Our creative process starts with an inspiration. The inspiration for the jewellery comes from a variety of sources, ranging from nature and architecture to older princely jewellery from the time of the Nizams.

We do a lot of research and study through reference books and customer feedback for designing our jewellery.

The next step is collecting exotic gemstones from across the world. Finally, we sit with our design team and master craftsmen to create and assemble the stuff that is literally magic when it is finished.

These are the core aspects of our creative process, which is truly exciting and a feast for the senses.

What was your inspiration while working on Ardor?

Maharani Gayatri Devi!

She has always been considered the epitome of beauty, elegance and grace. She is the true inspiration behind Ardor.

As is evident in her photographs, her attire and jewellery were always in sync so that neither one was overpowering the other.

Every bride aspires to be a ‘Maharani’ on her wedding day. When you go through our campaign material, you will notice that neither the clothes nor the jewellery are overpowering the bride. It is this fine balance of aesthetics which every client of ours desires and Ardor is our way of visually demonstrating just that to them. 

What would you say is the “STAR” of this collection?

The jewellery, being designed around fine quality gemstones, have that old-world charm to them. This charm is the STAR of the collection.

The jewels having Burmese rubies and Basra pearls, for instance, are synonymous with old/antique jewellery where the craftsmanship of the pieces did justice to the materials used in the pieces themselves. 

Tell us about the gemstones used in Ardor and how you source them? 

We have used important Heirloom-worthy material in this collection such as fine Emeralds, Rubies, Natural Pearls (Basra Pearls), Spinels (Laladi) and Tourmalines.

We have built our sourcing network all over the world—Columbia, Europe and the Gulf to Zambia, India, Sri Lanka, Burma and the Far East—ensuring we source the material needed for making unique and difficult-to-replicate jewellery. 

What’s your favourite piece in this collection?

Very difficult to pick as each piece is so unique and special, but if I was to choose one piece, then it would be the diamond and Basra pearls bracelet.

The pearls are all of the fine lustre, uniform colour and very smooth skin free of dents. It is this collection of pearls, and not the diamonds, which makes this bracelet very difficult to replicate.

What makes Ardor special from other collections?

The sheer variety and arrangement of the material used in the entire collection make the Ardor collection distinct. The uniformity of materials used in every piece of jewellery is what makes every piece worthy of a Modern Queen, and truly world-class.

Any piece from this collection would hold intrinsic value in the long run because the rarity of the materials used today would only increase over time, making the pieces even more difficult to replicate in the long run. This would further protect the long-term value of the jewellery.

What were the fears and challenges you had during the creation of Ardor?

Creativity and fear don’t come together. It was actually a really enjoyable experience curating the Ardor collection. Collecting fine-quality gemstones from all over the world, as per designs, is always the ultimate challenge. 

Another challenge was designing the jewellery around such gemstones and ultimately crafting them into fine jewellery. The latter requires a completely different level of skill set and attention to detail.

We are blessed to have such skilled craftsmen working with us—some of whom have been working with us across 3 generations—in an age where such skilled craftsmen are a dying breed. 

Where can we find this collection?

This collection is available at our Salt Lake showroom in City Centre, Kolkata.

Also, the opulent garments from the Luxe Couture Label, Shantanu Goenka are the ideal accompaniment to the ingenious collection, Ardor. Mr Goenka is considered the doyen of the Indian ensemble, known for his exquisite craftsmanship and luxurious detailing…. something that brides will want to certainly bookmark for their special day.

Any final message about Ardor?

Our message to the customers through ‘Ardor’ is this—Buy quality and not quantity, as quality has always stood the test of time.

For a jewel to be considered collection-worthy and praise-worthy, there are many criteria that the jeweller needs to fulfil. The most important criterion isn’t only the design actually. The real hero of such jewels is the workmanship of each piece closely followed by the quality of raw materials the jeweller uses. These criteria, once fulfilled, will make your jewellery a true heirloom piece.

Fine workmanship is a dying art in today’s time and fine-quality gemstones will always be rare. Stick to these criteria while choosing jewellery. You will find that your jewels will gain value rather than lose value over time.